Store

Key role

Apart from their conventional function of balancing gas demand swings, storage facilities are playing an increasingly important role as a means of storing other forms of energy. They are crucial to the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The higher the share of renewables in the power mix, the larger are the gas stocks that must be held in reserve to enable standby generating stations to kick in whenever unfavourable weather conditions prevent wind turbines or solar arrays from producing electricity. Generation at gas-fired power stations, using natural gas in storage, compensates for the swings in renewable generation.

Bespoke solutions

The aim of RAG Energy Storage is to meet the challenges of a new energy world by offering innovative bespoke services, designed to make a reality of “value added gas”, as well as RAG’s established storage products. These solutions will be tailored not just to fit conventional supplies but also to support short-term intraday- and complex trading-transactions. In addition, the company will be looking to help clients meet new market demands – especially as regards shipments to and from storage – by providing top-quality assistance with routine storage management.

Sustainable re-use of former gas reservoirs

Austria has natural geological structures that are ideal for gas storage. Since 1982 our parent company RAG Austria AG (RAG) has been re-using gas reservoirs depleted by its production operations as storage facilities. On 1 January 2013 RAG Energy Storage began marketing this storage capacity. Employing natural gas reservoirs formed millions of years ago is the safest, most environmentally friendly and most efficient energy storage method of all. These facilities are 99 percent efficient.